After our very busy time in the north island was now over, we decided that it was a good opportunity to have at least one day just doing, well not a lot really. It was really nice just to leave the tent up at our beautiful campsite in Momorangi Bay on the Queen Charlotte sound. 

We spent most of the morning reading our books in the wall to wall sunshine, we had our breakfast and some very nice coffee which we had bought in Wellington as a result of our coffee tasting. Eventually we decided to move, so we went for a refreshing swim in the sea and then wound our way back along the wiggly roads back to Picton.

We went to find an adventure company as we wanted to explore the sounds in some way, bike, foot or boat. So we found ‘Wilderness Explorers’ perfik! We quickly decided that the best way to see the sounds would be by kayak, so after planning our trip with Steve, we decided to hire a double sea kayak for 3 days so we could go exploring by ourselves. 

We would pick up our boat the next morning and hit the open sea! For now though we had more important things to worry about, unfortunately it is soon approaching the time when we will have to get….. A job!!!! 

I know, it’s tough being us, but we had arranged a phone interview from Adelaide where we have been given the contact of a very nice estate who need staff to work at their wedding venue. Evie had a very nice chat to the guy over the phone, which went very well and a couple of hours later, he sent us our roster.

With the job sorted, which we start on Feb 19th, we celebrated our success with a slap up meal. We had a kilo of Havelock green lipped mussels in a white wine, onion and cream sauce with a side of sautéed potatoes and corn on the cob, washed down with the local Marlborough Sav Blanc. It was delicious and all cooked on the campsite.
The next morning we rose early, packed up quickly and made our way to Picton to change our mode of transport to our kayak. We were given the ‘divorce’ kayak (we’re not even married yet) so named because the person at the back steered with their feet and you both paddled, apparently this would be more efficient if we hit strong winds and was also safer.

It took a couple of hours to pack up all of our things into the boat:- tent, sleeping bags, air beds (deflated), loads of food, booze, water, Evie, clothes and valuables. And after a safety briefing which included how not to hold a flare to your face, we were in the water and at the mercy of the sea.
It didn’t take long to get into a rhythm and we stayed in close to the coast for a few kilometres admiring the views from the calm waters. They are spectacular, being among the sounds with lush green hills on all sides and despite being in the sea, still being a long way from the open Pacific Ocean.

The most dangerous part of the trip came up pretty quickly, we had to cross quite a large area of open water on a busy shipping lane. We were told that if we see the very large ferry coming from far in the distance, we should wait because they move pretty quickly and they would definitely win in a fight. So we waited at ‘the Snout’ for one to go by, then went for the crossing, we only had to make it 2/3 of the way across as there was an island there which was the safe point and no large boats went the other side of it. 

The wind had picked up a but in this direction though, so there was a bit of chop and it was an arduous slog trying to get through the wind before any other boats came. We made it though, rolling over the passing ferries huge wake and stopped for lunch on Allports island.

We had the whole island to ourselves and enjoyed our lunch on a tiny beach. Back in the boat we finished the crossing and spent the next couple of hours, leisurely paddling past a few bays, seeing a seal, lots of sea birds, millions of mussels and plenty of fishermen. The wind tends to pick up in the afternoon so the last bay we had to cross, there us around a bit with the wind coming straight across us from the north. This same wind actually happened to blow us around to our final bay though, which was a lovely helping hand after a tough paddle.

Again it was a slightly tough paddle into the wind to our campsite at Ratamiri bay. This was a lovely secluded beach, only accessible by boat and once the few day trippers left, we only had to share the place with one other couple and their kayak. It was blissful and we relaxed all afternoon, went for a swim, read some more and hit admired the view.

In the absence of electricity however, I had the fun job of blowing up our air beds with my lungs. Thankfully this only took just over 15 minutes per bed and I managed to not pass out during the event.

We went out to pick some mussels too which we later cleaned up and cooked in a tomato and Parmesan sauce for our camping starter. Followed by Gnocchi with salami. On arrival to the beach, we soon met some very interesting birds, resembling chickens with thick legs and strange calls. They were wikas and they weren’t shy. Soon however, we realised they were scavengers and the moment our back was turned, they’d have any food or anything shiny that you left unattended. The first victim was the salami, but we didn’t lose all of it and also this prompted us to keep everything food related, locked up in the boat.

Dinner was a success and we slept very well on our near private beach in the sounds.

The following morning we were woken by the dawn chorus at around 6. This was a lovely time of day and nice to spend a few hours having breakfast and coffee before heading back out onto the water. The couple who were also kayaking left very early which seemed odd to us, but it meant we had the place to ourselves for a while.

Today’s journey was only a couple of bays across to Kumutoto bay, we planned to only spend a couple of easy hours making our way there, so we could go for a walk at the other end. Well it started leisurely, but slowly as we started to head west and North, the winds got stronger and stronger into our faces, it was hard work but we knew we didn’t have far to go, so we started shouting ‘is that all you’ve got!?’ To the weather gods, already soaked to the skin from the spray coming off of Evie’s paddles, I was having a great time and so was Evie.

We rounded the final bend to head directly north to our next campsite, however this is where the weather gods decided to give it their best, throwing out gust after gust of very strong winds, some producing small water spouts and also lots of sea spray. It got a bit hairy at one point when the wind was trying to blow us sideways, but we managed to keep her straight and half an hour of battling later, we hit the beach. Pooped is an understatement.
We eventually mustered up the energy to set up camp in another beautifully secluded spot and it was only just past noon at this point, so we had plenty of time for relaxing and reading and general day to day procrastination. The walk went out of the window though, replaced with an afternoon nap.

That night we shared the beach with a Swiss couple and had our first ‘cheat’ meal of a ration pack curry and rice. It was very nice and easy though, and considering we were having to take out water from a nearby creek, it was the best time to do it.

I had a wash in the same creek and we were turning in for an early night when a dinghy came flying into the beach, fully loaded with beer and camping gear, seemingly for 100 people, but actually only for 4. This was not our idea of relaxation and we were thinking that they would keep us up all night. They were fine though and even helped me pump up an air bed after having already done one by myself. In any case, we both slept like babies after our earlier efforts in the boat so they could have had a rave for all we cared.

We woke bright and breezy again and realised why the couple the previous day had started kayaking so early. This time we just had a quick bite of fruit and a coffee and were out to sea by 8. The forecast for today was even stronger winds in the afternoon, so we wasted no time heading back to Picton. As it happened there wasn’t the slightest bit of wind this morning and it was a lovely gentle trip back across the larger channel to civilisation.

Our first priority was a hot shower, which is very hard to find when you need one and Picton wasn’t the place to find one. We eventually had one in a local campsite and feeling clean and refreshed, treated ourselves to breakfast.
We were a bit tired after our epic adventure so our priorities turned to bedtime. We made our way to Blenheim, just a few km down south and booked into a nice ‘Top 10’ Campsite. This was by a river with lots of ducks running around, also by a slightly noisy road but it had everything we needed and so we based ourselves there for the next 2 nights.

From Blenheim we planned on exploring the many world famous vineyards of Marlborough, where they produce the best Sav Blanc in the world. We would do this the next day on hired bikes, possibly a tandem, depending how we felt, but after getting along fine in the kayak I’m sure we’d get along swimmingly.
That evening we had use of an oven for the first time since camping, so we took the opportunity to make potato wedges to go with our steak and salad. Of all the times you expect things to go wrong, steak and chips would not be one of them, unfortunately for me though, some dear soul had left a hob on full whack and I had the pleasure of leaning all of my weight on it with the palm of my hand.

Oh how she sizzled, and I had to apologise to a very nice family for the rude word I shouted. I ran my hand under the tap for a very long time and fellow campers rallied around to get me first aid supplies and aloe vera cooling gel. Despite all of their efforts though, the pain was too much and I called a taxi to take me to hospital, not for 15 minutes mind you, I couldn’t let the steak and chips go to waste.

Our less than hasty taxi driver eventually got us there and I ran inside A&E with what must have been a lot of pain written on my face. They instantly saw me and within seconds I was with the nurse whilst Evie filled out the paper work. Only a few minutes later after seeing the doctor, I was on a bed pumped full of morphine (which only made me sleepy) and some other opiate drug (which did the trick)

Edit

We were both very impressed with the treatment I received and as a British national, it was all free, ten out of ten for service. If I’m going to injure myself again I’ll make sure I’m in NZ. There was a worrying moment when the doctor made me take photos of my hand, in case I needed plastic surgery, but after the nurse wrapped me up with a big boxing glove, they seemed quite confident that it would be fine.

Paracetamol finished me off and I slept like a baby in our tent we call home. I woke up with almost no pain, but unfortunately I wasn’t allowed to partake in any bicycle wine tours today. Poor me.
Today we were meeting up with Lynne, who we met in Fiji as well as Emma and Liam again, for a bit of a reunion. Evie picked her up from the station and we spent a while catching up in the campsite. Later on when the others arrived we went to a couple of the vineyards, so that we could sample at least some of the local wine. I had to drive as I was going back to see the doctor later, but the others had a great time drinking whilst I just had a sniff.

I dropped them all back off so they could prepare the BBQ and I went back to hospital to see what damage had been done. As I wasn’t in pain this time, I did have to wait my turn, but it wasn’t too long and the doctors couldn’t believe how much it had gone down just overnight. They assured me that it would be fine and I just needed to keep it moist and stitched out, so the scars don’t deform my hand. That called for a beer and luckily we had some on ice.
We had a delicious Barbie and spent all night catching up over a few drinks and celebrated not having to have plastic surgery.

The following morning we all packed up and took a slow culinary drive to our next destination Pelorus bridge. On the way we stopped to do some cheese tasting, some chocolate tasting and more wine tasting at the famous Cloudy Bay vineyard. It was a very educational tasting and a great setting to do it in.

From there we stopped to get some tasty apricots from a well weathered farmer who didn’t like supermarkets. We arrived in Pelorus bridge and set our tents overlooking the river. Another stunning location with plenty of sandflies to keep you on your toes.

I went for a swim in the fast flowing waters, which was actually a pretty good workout because you could swim hard and not really go anywhere. The others were happy on dry land and pretty soon after a short walk to a non existent waterfall, it was time for dinner.

More delicious food, more beer and wine and some fun card games was enough to give us another good nights sleep, with another great view to wake up to.
Lazy bums this morning, we opted to buy our coffee from the cafe rather than making our own. It was a short walk and the sun was shining. On the way back, I thought it would be fun to try and walk back to our camp along the river. This started with a lot of scrambling over rocks before we hit a dead end and had to wade through the knee deep (waist deep for Evie) fast flowing water. It took a long time but was lots of fun and certainly blew off the cobwebs.

After we were all packed up, Emma and Liam were driving back East to Picton while Lynne, Evie and I were heading west towards the Abel Tasman national park. We would meet up with Liam and Emma the following day hopefully a bit further south.
As always the drive was beautiful, with a different, amazing view around every corner. Eventually, after just driving and staring at the scenery, we decided to head to Harwoods hole, a 176 metre vertical drop into the earth. First we had to drive 11km down a gravel track, which definitely was meant for 4×4 traffic and not for Norman the Nissan Note. Despite a couple of scares, dragging the car over a couple of rocks, it made it to the very secluded and eerie car park, in the middle of nowhere.

From there it was a pleasant downhill walk through a dense forest to he hole. All you could hear around you was the buzz of wasps and flies, it did feel a bit like a horror movie. At the end of the track, we found the hole, this is where you seem to lose your balance.

The hole started 60 metres above us and then dropped directly down below us. There were no guard barriers and it was making me nervous watching Evie look over the edge. We survived though, even after Evie dropped her sunglasses and we thought they were gone forever, but they had stopped on a ledge and I managed to get them back. Back up through the forest and along the gravel track to the main road we decided to set up camp as far south as we could get before dark, to save some driving tomorrow.

We ended up staying at an abandoned railway station by a river in the pouring rain. It was nice though and we had the old sheltered platform to cook our dinner in.
The following day was mostly driving, through the ever changing geography and weather, from driving rain to sunshine. We stopped on the way at the Pancake rocks, an amazing coastline made up of stacks of rocks that have formed in very distinct layers. The Maori name for the area was Punikake, so we think it’s a mixture of the name and how they are stacked to why they are called pancake rocks.

We had an overpriced lunch as it was raining and we didn’t fancy cooking in the wet. For the rest of the day we wound our way down the coastline toward the Franz Josef glacier. Arriving before dark and managing to get a sneak peak at the magnificent glacier through broken cloud.
We opted for a fully serviced campsite tonight, needing a hot shower and to do some laundry as well as have use of a sheltered kitchen. The rain was still lashing down.
Corn on the cob and burritos for dinner, it was still just the 3 of us, with Liam and Emma having some bad luck with their camper and not being able to join us until we get to Queenstown.

Glaciers tomorrow and then south east towards more sunshine!!!!